The Big Beautiful Bankrupt Barbaric Baffling Bullshit Bill: What the hell else is there to say about it that hasn’t already been said millions of times all over the print and online media. Let’s recap: So why the hell are these people trying so hard to pass a bill that sucks ass and will basically mean their eviction from office? You’d probably answer with something like “fealty to Trump” or “afraid of losing the primary” and I guess there’s a certain way you would be correct. But, that’s not the primary reason. The primary reason is: Because...
Continue reading...Republicans
So what’s next?
This morning, we went over the preordained Republican takeover of the Senate. So, other than having to hear “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says” over and over, what will the next two years look like? For the most part, you’d be correct in assuming that it’d look a lot like the last four years: With Democrat Barack Obama still the president, and a Republican-controlled House and Senate, it’s going to be a loud not much. Yet even with that caveat, we can still look into what a unified legislature is going to at least try, and perhaps...
Continue reading...Voters decide the government is doing too much to help them
A hearty number of column inches (so anachronistic!) are being devoted today to explaining various reasons Democrats lost yesterday and Republicans won. It’s the long-running day-after tradition, and it’s rarely illuminating. But, you got to fill the papers, they say. Truth is, we all knew this was going to happen two years ago. Hell, we were all pretty sure even six years ago, when this class of senators was elected. Without a presidential election to buoy them, these unlikely Democratic faces representing deeply conservative states would not be long in their seats. The reason why is not surprising....
Continue reading...Iowa: What we learned
Well, so last night they had some caucuses. Mittens Romney won by a landslide of eight votes. Eight votes. Rick Santorum’s surge proved to have been at the exact right moment, as he finished just behind. Ron Paul’s surge was just a moment too soon and finished fourth. Everybody else sucked. Here’s some things we learned: – Not a goddamn one of the Republican pack can deliver a nationally-televised speech. – Corollary: Somebody give Michele Bachmann a teleprompter. – Corollary: I like Newt’s voice the best of them. – Corollary: Perry’s was the most heart-felt, although that...
Continue reading...Some people gonna be voting today
Holy shit—today’s the Iowa caucuses. At about 7:00 p.m. CST (8:00 p.m. EST because we’re east-coast-elite-centric here), at 1,774 precincts across the state of Iowa, Republicans (and, actually, Democrats too, but we already pretty much know who’ll win that one) will begin to select their choice for the Republican nomination for president. Polls in the past week have pretty much shown a three-way statistical tie between Mittens Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Santorum has surged very recently, the latest in the series of second/third-tier candidates. It’s pretty clear that about half the Republican constituency finds Romney...
Continue reading...Who wrote the Republican's "Pledge to America?"
Well, it turns out that if you open the PDF version of the Republican’s “A Pledge to America,” their follow-up to the 1994 “Contract With America,” you learn that the author of the document was not, actually, some staffer in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office,* but none other than Brian Wild. The Hill: Huffington Post’s Sam Stein reports that Wild, as a lobbyist at the Nickels Group, “was paid $740,000 in lobbying contracts from AIG, the former insurance company at the heart of the financial collapse; $800,000 from energy giant Andarko Petroleum; more than $1.1 million...
Continue reading...The Stakes
Forget for a moment about Speaker of the House Boehner or Senate Majority Leader McConnell, or the likelihood of complete legislative stalemate. Often overlooked down-ticket races have even bigger consequences that affect races for the next decade: Republicans are within reach of gaining control of eight or more chambers in statehouses around the country this fall, according to interviews with Republicans, Democrats and independent political analysts. That would give Republicans the power to draw more Congressional districts in their favor, since the expected gains come just as many legislatures will play a major role in the once-a-decade...
Continue reading...Larry Sabato predicts huge wins for Republicans in November
Republicans are undoubtedly going to have a good November, but University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato makes a pretty bold claim: Given what we can see at this moment, Republicans have a good chance to win the House by picking up as many as 47 seats, net. This is a “net” number since the GOP will probably lose several of its own congressional districts in Delaware, Hawaii, and Louisiana. This estimate, which may be raised or lowered by Election Day, is based on a careful district-by-district analysis, plus electoral modeling based on trends in President Obama’s Gallup...
Continue reading...Why did Murkowski lose?
David Weigel offers a post-mortem, as well as how it was her ability and willingness to work across the aisle that brought her down: The post-election gloating over Murkowski’s problems revealed the problems conservatives had with her. She voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2008. In October 2009 she said she was “open” to compromise on cap-and-trade legislation if it expanded drilling and nuclear power. She had a moderate record on abortion, siding with liberals on some matters of federal funding for the procedure. And she occasionally spoke dismissively of Sarah Palin. Tell me if I’m missing...
Continue reading...Republicans Supporting Non-Republicans
Interesting news from the Pennsylvania senate race today: Former Senator Chuck Hagel will endorse Joe Sestak. Hagel was a Republican; Sestak is a Democrat running against Republican Pat Toomey. Hagel told The Associated Press on Monday that Sestak has demonstrated during his two terms in Congress that he puts what’s best for the country before the interests of his party. He said Sestak’s courage and integrity as a legislator are qualities the nation needs more of. This just shortly after we’ve learned that Bob Dole, former Republican senator and presidential candidate, has thrown a $1,000 check to...
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